Hype your favorite book

[Stella_Omega]

Ah, how I love that book.

Well sure; it's about friends of yours, right?

 

[Guest]

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

Dark Star, by Alan Furst

When it comes to spy novels, no one does it better these days than Alan Furst. His seven novels -- all set in Europe before and during World War II – are rich with both historical fact and brilliantly imagined circumstances. Even if you don't like the works of authors such as Graham Greene, John Le Carre, or Eric Ambler, writers can learn a lot about handling atmosphere, characters and dialogue from reading Furst.

While all his novels are stand-alone and great reads, Dark Star, his second novel, would be a good place to start. Here's a blurb.

Paris, Moscow, Berlin, and Prague, 1937. In the back alleys of nighttime Europe, war is already under way. André Szara, survivor of the Polish pogroms and the Russian civil wars and a foreign correspondent for Pravda, is co-opted by the NKVD, the Soviet secret intelligence service, and becomes a full-time spymaster in Paris. As deputy director of a Paris network, Szara finds his own star rising when he recruits an agent in Berlin who can supply crucial information. Dark Star captures not only the intrigue and danger of clandestine life but the day-to-day reality of what Soviet operatives call special work.

Here's a paragraph just to give you a feel for his style

A series of tram lines took him to a neighborhood of worker tenements, the narrow streets smelled like fish, urine, fried onions. The November day was cool in the shadow of the buildings. Was he followed? He thought not. They had something better, a kind of invisi- ble cable, the method the psychologist Pavlov used with laboratory animals. It was called—he had to look for the word—conditioning. His last day on earth, yet he did what he was told. His mind stood off and watched the scene: a man of intellect, independence, delivering himself to the apparat. Pitiful. Contemptible. Szara glanced at his watch. He didn’t want to be late.

"Like watching Casablanca for the first time."--Time.

"Highly recommended." -- Rumple Foreskin

 

[shereads]

Sold by 'the breeders' and forced to compete in ritual Obedience Trials

'Lad, a Dog' by Albert Payson Terhune

This was one of the favorite books of my childhood. Only since visiting Literotica have I begun to appreciate Terhune's gentle tales on a different level: hot BDSM, deviously disguised as innocent bedtime stories.

Lad, a collie in the prime of manhood, is the perfect physical specimen. Lady is the innocent young female purchased as an infant from 'the breeders' and presented to Lad as his future mate. Cruelly taken her from the bosom of her litter, Lady is forced to grow up fast. Somehow, she must fend off her mate's attentions until she is old enough to give him sons.

Leashed, caged, alternately humiliated and coddled by the all-powerful 'Master' and mysterious 'Mistress,' Lad endures a strict training regimen as he is prepared to compete in ritual 'Obedience Trials.' Battling his attraction to Lady, Lad knows that nothing must interfere with his training. Will his devotion to his Mistress cost him the love of his bitch?

Meanwhile, the troubled son of the Master and Mistress brings home a stray mongrel whose sly glances at Lady and muttered threats forebode disaster...

 

[BlackShanglan]

Jonathan Strange and Dr. Norell by Susannah Clarkson.

Set in Georgian England where magic still exists as theory, until one man steps forward and reveals that he can actually perform magic, instead of just studying it.

One reviewer called it "Austin meets Tolkien" and I think that's a fairly adept summation.

A big, fat, gloriously wordy and tangled book. I thought of Shang as I was reading it.

It's on the wish list.

 

[impressive]

My benchmark for "favorite" books is the number of times I've reread them. I'm almost afraid to reopen these favorites now for fear that reading them with a writer's eye will forever shatter their affects on me.

All have one major characteristic: broad socio-political themes.

Here are the books/series I've reread until they fell apart & replaced (at least one time):

Tolkein's Lord of the Rings
Herbert's Dune series
Asimov's Foundation series
McCaffrey's Pern series
King's The Stand
Stewart's Earth Abides
Adam's Watership Down
Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land
Anthony's Bio of a Space Tyrant series
Anthony's Geodyssey series
Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale

Some of them are "light" reading. Others, not so much. All were quite entertaining (to me), but no matter how engaging the individual characters or story lines, their main appeal lies in the fact that they're wrapped up in this bigger picture.

And yes, television series & movies with the same themes have always appealed to me (Star Trek, Star Wars, Babylon 5, FarScape, etc.) ... although I did SO enjoy Ben Browder & Claudia Black on FarScape.

 

[NoJo]

'Lad, a Dog' by Albert Payson Terhune

This was one of the favorite books of my childhood. Only since visiting Literotica have I begun to appreciate Terhune's gentle tales on a different level: hot BDSM, deviously disguised as innocent bedtime stories.

Lad, a collie in the prime of manhood, is the perfect physical specimen. Lady is the innocent young female purchased as an infant from 'the breeders' and presented to Lad as his future mate. Cruelly taken her from the bosom of her litter, Lady is forced to grow up fast. Somehow, she must fend off her mate's attentions until she is old enough to give him sons.

Leashed, caged, alternately humiliated and coddled by the all-powerful 'Master' and mysterious 'Mistress,' Lad endures a strict training regimen as he is prepared to compete in ritual 'Obedience Trials.' Battling his attraction to Lady, Lad knows that nothing must interfere with his training. Will his devotion to his Mistress cost him the love of his bitch?

Meanwhile, the troubled son of the Master and Mistress brings home a stray mongrel whose sly glances at Lady and muttered threats forebode disaster...

Down, girl.

 

[sincerely_helene]

Vampire De Sade by Mary Ann Mitchell

The notorious Marquis immortalized as a blood thirsty Vampire-- What's not to love?

 

[BlackShanglan]

Vampire De Sade by Mary Ann Mitchell

The notorious Marquis immortalized as a blood thirsty Vampire-- What's not to love?

So long as immortality hasn't added to his stamina in those 3-page ranting philosophical asides that get in the way of the (relatively scant) interesting bits.